Google+ now open for businesses—and the rush is on

Google+ opened for business Monday, and not since the Oklahoma Land Rush has there been such a stampede to occupy a territory.

Companies from Pepsi to The New York Times have staked their brand pages in the search engine’s social network after months of watching individuals occupy the space.

“Businesses are scrambling all over themselves to get pages up,” says Lee Odden, CEO of TopRank Online Marketing. “It would be conspicuous to be absent.”

Industry watchers had little doubt that Google+ would shake up communications, integrating the all-seeing eye of the search cyclops with the sorts of pages that once were limited to places like LinkedIn and Facebook.